


Finding Our Way

by Mischief_With_Sandra



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, angst wrapped up in some fluffy and flirty moments, minor Oliver Queen appearance, possibly something more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-10-03 07:16:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10238807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mischief_With_Sandra/pseuds/Mischief_With_Sandra
Summary: How Tommy and Felicity found their way to each other.





	1. To A New Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Many people are to thank for the inspiration of this dynamic duo. An entire story wrapped around moments between these two that have never come to pass, but what had the potential to be beyond compare. Please brace yourselves as I fumble around, attempting to bring these two characters to life. I can only hope I do them some semblance of the justice that they both deserve so much.

**OOOOO**

 

There was a lot of yelling going on upstairs. And not the cheerful, run of the mill, club happy yelling. No, this was more along the lines of, ‘I can’t trust you anymore, because apparently while I’m running a club, that we’re supposed to do together, you’re out spending your nights out as a crazed vigilante.’ At least, that’s what Felicity is gathering, as she sits at her computer station diligently watching Oliver Queen and Tommy Merlyn, best friends since before puberty, animatedly talk in front of the new security cameras she’s had placed in the outer hallway their basement door at Verdant. Since signing on with him just a few short months ago; Felicity managed to talk Oliver into wiring motion sensors and a few well-placed security cameras in the club. It only made sense; reasoning that as there were now two more team members to be aware of entering and exiting Verdant at odd hours of the day. They would need to be more careful if they didn’t want to get caught raising more attention than necessary. It’s one thing if Diggle were to be seen coming in and out of Verdant, being Oliver Queen’s designated body guard, but there are only so many excuses that would be plausible for her to be there. Normally, if a motion senor caught movement in the hallway, Felicity would bring up the feed and depending on who it was, would quickly dismiss the finding. On this occasion though, she was not going to turn her security feed off. Oliver laid bare his nightly secret to Tommy Merlyn just a week before, and to say things are off between them is a grievous error. Oh sure, they put on a good front for the public, at night when the club is fully packed, but during the day as they pretend to be ships passing through the night; things are intense. And it seems things are coming to a boil this early afternoon.

 

Queen Consolidated had officiated a holiday for their employees today, which is how Felicity found herself at Verdant with Oliver so early. She came down to run some server updates and go over the preliminary reports on their potential target for the evening. Oliver had strolled in some time shortly after her, and began running through a couple of training simulations, which Felicity will admit to, was very distracting to her work, but also enjoyable. After he finished, Felicity thought she heard him say he had to go upstairs and bring some extra water down to restock the small refrigerator they kept tucked away in the corner of their basement. Felicity had lifted her head and turned around from where she was working when she realized that a fair amount of time had passed and there was no sign of Oliver. She was about to carefully peek upstairs to see what was keeping him, when her security monitor beeped at her; alerting her to the motion sensor movement outside the door. Figuring it was Oliver coming back; she quickly went back to her workstation and flipped on the camera feed. And she was right. It was Oliver, only he wasn’t alone. Tommy was with him, and neither looked particularly pleased with the other, which is where Felicity is left currently watching each friend start using more wild gestures at each other. For this reason, she’s staying glued to the screen with her phone in her right hand in case she needs to call Dig if things escalate any further than they already seem to. Watching these two bicker back and forth with each other, it pains Felicity to watch. The anger and confusion on Tommy Merlyn’s face is etched onto his features. Unable to understand what has truly driven Oliver to find himself the path that he’s laid before himself. How he could have missed such a change in him as finding out that, his best friend, his own appointed brother, is running around town with a bow and arrow killing people, for reasons he has even yet to comprehend. Wondering how he’s ever going to move past such a revelation and if it’s even possible to repair what is completely and utterly broken between them.

 

Felicity has yet to meet Tommy Merlyn in any official capacity. Their eyes met once, as she was seen with Oliver coming into The Foundry, the night following the eventful day of the Dodger, who had that bomb collar around her neck. She still unconsciously rubs her neck from time to time with the uncomfortable and tightening feeling of how dire her situation really was. She can only imagine what was going through Tommy Merlyn’s mind when he saw them going through the hallway that lead to the basement. It was late at night, and later than usual by club standards. She knows Oliver had recently mentioned her helping out around the club as a consultant. Tommy asking one day as he caught a wisp of her blond ponytail when she rounded a corner one late afternoon right before the club was supposed to open. In Oliver’s world, she was, “on loan”, in an unofficial capacity from Queen Consolidated’s IT department. Which is actually, not too far off from the truth in some respects, but as Oliver is known for his horrid lies; she closed her eyes, cringing as she heard Oliver up ahead, while walking towards the basement, giving Tommy the excuse that there was a server malfunction that only she could fix, at 1:30 in the morning. Skittishly, as she made her way down the hallway following slightly behind Oliver, she and Tommy locked eyes with one another, which seemed like minutes, but was merely seconds. She’s sure she had an embarrassed and uncomfortable look on her face, but attempted a half-hearted smile at him as she passed him by. Tommy on the other hand, had the smallest wrinkle in his brow as he walked towards her, looking over her once, and slightly turning his head to glance at her face in passing. She could see the small upturn of a smile start at the corner of his lips before shaking his head and continuing on to the main area of Verdant. Then it seemed as if time sped up again and she continued on with a head shake of her own. No, she may not have met Tommy Merlyn, but she knows some of the stories, and the bond he and Oliver have shared most all of their lives.

 

Watching the monitor now, she sees how upset Oliver is, but not at Tommy, not really. She sees what really lies beneath the mask Oliver is wearing. The upset look upon his face is not one of anger, but of fear. Fear of losing the one person who he knows he’s always been able to see him through the good and the bad. He wants so desperately for Tommy to understand, but doesn’t know where to begin. And so they’re both lost at sea at this moment in time. A rift, tearing them apart to opposite ends of the world, and Felicity wants nothing more than to see them overcome this. And they will. She knows deep down in their bones they can overcome this. She just has to convince them to believe in one another. Startled out of her thoughts, Felicity hears the bang of the door upstairs; glancing up towards the noise, then back to the screen in front of her. She sees Tommy pointing at the entrance to where she’s residing. Debating back and forth what might happen next, she sees that it appears both men have calmed down some, and Oliver looks as if he’s going to unlock the door, his hand hovering over the keypad. Noticing his hesitation, Felicity quickly shuts off the monitor screen and starts walking to the alleyway exit of their basement. With her phone still in her hand; she texts Oliver and tells him, she’s leaving for a few hours while updates run their course. It’s one thing to have Oliver show Tommy around their basement, it’s another to have to explain her being there. It’ll just be one less thing they both have to deal with today, and she rather not have either get aggravated and defensive again after it seems they’ve come to a calm resolution for the moment. As she quietly slips outside, she hears the tell tale signs of the door unlocking above. She can hear their voices now as they trickle down the stairs, and smiles unknowingly to herself when she hears what Tommy has to say.

 

“Ollie. No offense; but this seems _way_ too sophisticated than what you’re capable of.”

 

And for the first time since Tommy has known about Oliver being the vigilante, she can almost hear them turn to each and baulk with genuine laughter. As she cracks the door closed and walks to her car, Felicity thinks that maybe just maybe, things will be alright.

 

 

**OOOOO**


	2. Through The Quiet Of Night

_(Immediately after 1x17)_

**OOOOO**

 

                It’s never ceases to amaze him, how a night club that can create such a loud and brash atmosphere can also instantly become somber and eerily quiet once the music has stopped and the crowd has vanished. How it’s so quiet, you’re only left with your thoughts and the low hum of the air conditioning above. When the music is raging and the bass is pounding so hard throughout the club, you are alleviated of what went wrong earlier that day, what you couldn’t say right, who you failed. You’re left with the pulsation of white noise, and when you’re in the club during that time; you welcome the chaos. You welcome drowning out everything and enjoy being left numb. Sure, you smile, laugh and carry on as if the world was full of sunshine and rainbows, but placing yourself on autopilot is better than dealing with the torrent of emotions that the day has left in your wake. But now, the club is silent and there’s nothing left to fill your head with mindless tasks and box up the flood of emotions pouring through your body.

 

                Walking slowly through the main floor of the club, Tommy replays his conversation with Oliver over again in his head. He can see the toll all of the lies Oliver has been keeping in order to protect the people he cares about most. He desperately wants to understand his friend. After everything that happened between his run in with Helena to his own lies to Laurel, Tommy finally has a glimpse of what Oliver must be dealing with. But even with the briefest sheen of truth, there is still the pain and struggle of trying to figure out how his dearest friend could become the man that he sees now. The man that dresses up at night in a green hood and becomes unrecognizable to the best friend he once knew. Running his hands through his hair, Tommy stops at the end of the bar with his train of thoughts. Placing his left hand down, he can hear the echo reverberate through the empty club. He _wants_ to understand. But he has no idea where to start. Tilting his head up to the ceiling, Tommy rubs his hand across his face in frustration. When he drops his arm, he sees the faintly lit hallway that leads to _that_ place. The place where Oliver hides himself away from the world, a place Tommy has yet to come to terms with. Maybe the basement is the key to understanding a small piece Oliver, the man he once thought he knew like the back of his hand.

 

                With renewed energy and determination, Tommy makes his way to the basement. Flashes of Helena leading him down the hallway and down the stairs to the basement enter his mind, but as quickly as they appeared they’re gone. Absently rubbing his wrapped wrist, Tommy reaches the entrance door and sees the keypad in front of him. He doesn’t know why he’s hesitating; he knows Oliver isn’t down there. In fact, there’s no one left in the building except for him. Maybe it’s because of what happened last time he was down here. Face pressed angrily against the stainless steel table, body completely immobile, his arm taught and braced so tightly behind him; he knows if Helena had pushed any further, his shoulder would have given out and his wrist would be broken. But then Oliver intervened, and he was released with minimal damage. Shaking his head, Tommy enters the 3 digit pass code into the keypad and hears the faint click of the door unlocking. Tentatively stepping inside, Tommy starts down the metal steps and makes his way to the center of the room. Spinning on his heel, he takes in the dimly lit basement. Tommy runs his fingers across the table that he got to know quite well last night. Not wanting to reminisce anymore about what happened to him, he turns his attention to the soft glow of computers to his left. Walking over, he rests his arms over the chair’s backing to inspect the three computers spaced out equally on the desk. Tommy’s face scrunches together in confusion trying to figure out if or when Oliver took an interest in high tech computers. Just another item to add to his list of things he doesn’t know about Oliver Queen. Huffing out a breath of frustration, Tommy realizes coming down here may have been a mistake. Looking around at this base of operations Oliver uses, Tommy sees he’s no closer to shedding any light on his friend than he was before, if anything, he’s left with more questions now that he’s able to really look at everything Oliver has set up down here. Curiosity getting the best of him, Tommy leans over the back of the chair to flick the mouse in front of him. He stops short when he hears the ping of a lock unlatching from behind him. Whipping his head around, eyes wide, he assumes its Oliver returning to do god knows what. His brow furrows when he can’t make out who’s walking towards him in the darkened back corner of the basement. Another entrance he never even knew existed. _Of course Ollie would have an emergency exit_. Hearing the shuffles of the person walking towards him, he realizes that whoever this person is, is most definitely _not_ Oliver. The figure stops short from entering the main part of the room, only to see the person raise their arm to what looks like a panel. Tommy hears a sharp ratchet noise and then sees the lights in the rest of the basement start to turn on around him.

 

With the lights fully turned on, Tommy can see his unexpected guest. His body sags in relief, releasing tension that he hadn’t noticed he was holding in when he notices his intruder is a petite woman, with long blonde hair currently placed in a ponytail. She’s wearing jeans, a blue and green short sleeved knit top and sneakers. Her look is topped off with blackish brown glasses square glasses on her face. _She’s cute_ , is the first thought that runs through Tommy Merlyn’s mind. His second thought is that she also looks familiar. Tilting his head to the side, he tries to figure out where he’s seen her before. He can tell she wasn’t expecting to find him, as a look of wide surprised is spread across her face once her eyes land on him. A similar expression must be on his face because they both stand stock still as they try to figure out what the other is doing down here. Tommy opens his mouth to say something, but the woman beats him to it.

 

“You. Are not Oliver,” the woman says to him, drawing out the words in a slow statement.

 

“Nope. Definitely not,” Tommy replies with a slight chuckle; he rocks back on his heels in attempts to dispel some nervous energy. He watches, as the woman in question cautiously makes her way towards him. Questions are firing rapidly in his mind as he still tries to place where he’s seen her. Obviously, she knows Oliver, _obviously_ , and she knows about his secret. Tommy racks his brain as he tries to put two and two together. With the hum of the computers, buzzing behind him, he snaps his fingers together as he finally makes the connection of where he’s seen this woman before. A short memory of a blond haired woman, hair whipping back and forth as she hurriedly follows Oliver down the hallway upstairs late one night last week. “You,” Tommy said simply, a hint of enlightenment carrying in his voice.

 

“Me,” she says, sheepishly shrugging her shoulders as she places her purse down at the table next to him.

 

He can see the curiosity in her eyes as he notices her assessing him. Tommy shifts slightly from one foot to the other while under her scrutiny. “You’re…?” he trails off, the incomplete question left hanging in the open.  

 

“Oh, right! Sorry we haven’t really met before. I’m Felicity, Felicity Smoak,” she responds quickly, almost tripping over her words. She leaves the table to walk over to him fully and extends her hand out to him to shake.

 

“Felicity. Of course. Queen Consolidated IT Consultant for Verdant. I _knew_ I had seen you at the club, it finally all makes sense now,” he says, taking her hand and placing his patented Merlyn smile on for show. He should have known all of this technology wasn’t Oliver’s doing. Maybe it wasn’t a mistake to come down here. He’s finally gotten one small piece of the puzzle figured out. “I’m –“

 

“Tommy Merlyn. Oliver’s best friend since childhood. Dating _the_ Laurel Lance. I know all about you. Well, not all about you, because that would be stalking, and I’m definitely not one, a stalker – that is. And I’m going to stop rambling in 3, 2, 1…” Felicity babbled incessantly, her eyes closed in embarrassment as she closes her mouth and purses her lips together into a thin line.

 

For one moment, Tommy Merlyn lets his guard down and smiles sincerely at the woman in front of him. “No, I get it. You’re Oliver’s computer whiz. Oliver never could have put this together without someone who really knew what they were doing with computers. I may not know this Oliver very well, but I knew he was lying when he said the server needed fixing at such odd hours of the day, and at our club. Same old Ollie there. He’s a terrible liar,” Tommy gestures around him.

 

“Horrible,” she says, as Felicity moves over to her computer station to unlock the screens. “You should have seen the awful stories he would tell me in order to help him with odd requests, before I knew about all this,” Felicity laughs lightly, making a shooing motion to Tommy to move away from her chair.

 

Holding his hands up in mock defense Tommy chuckles along with her while he moves away so she can reclaim her rightful chair. As he watches her sit down, he can tell she belongs there. That in this huge basement, filled with arrows and training equipment, that this little space right here, is all hers. It feels right, and he doesn’t even know her, but he just knows. It unnerves him a bit at that realization. “So, what are you doing her so late at night?” Tommy asks, trying to glance at the monitors that have just booted up, each screen lit up with different maps or pieces of coding. Not anything he can make heads or tails of.

 

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?” Felicity swivels in her chair to face him, her eyebrows raised, and head cocked to the side.

 

“Well played, Ms. Smoak. Well played,” he banters back with her, feeling more at ease with this woman than he has with anyone he’s encountered the past two months. “Actually, I just wanted a place to clear my head, try and understand…..all of this. Oliver,” Tommy somberly replies; letting his mask drop to reveal one of the first honest things he’s said all day.

 

“I don’t really know you Mr. Merlyn, but I do know two things, that Oliver carries a burden with him each and every day that eats away at him, trying to be the person everyone wants him to be, but no longer is,” she says to Tommy, looking up at him with a seriousness that stills him completely. He can see the wheels turning in her head as she pauses to gather herself before continuing.

 

“Please call me Tommy. I’m not my father. And the second?” Tommy prompts in a clipped tone, anxious to hear what she has to say.

 

“Oliver is scared,” she finishes quickly, adjusting her glasses in a nervous gesture.

 

“Scared of what?” he says, crossing his arms in front of him; Tommy props himself against the desk intrigued with the information Felicity has just provided him.

 

“He’s scared of losing himself. Losing you, Tommy. You’re the one person he’s always been able to count on to be there for him; he’s afraid if he loses your friendship, there won’t be anything left of him to be _saved_. And the worst part? He can’t even admit it to himself. Trying to carry this all on his own; he trusts you with everything, which is why he trusted you with knowing this,” Felicity states, the passion and sincerity in her voice left no room for doubt.

 

Felicity Smoak is remarkable. She managed to decipher Oliver in a way he never could. Tommy clearly understood in this moment why Oliver had found this woman and brought her into his life. Clearing his throat, he needs time to sit and sift through everything he’s been told. “So, you never told me what you’re doing here,” he says, motioning to the computers next to them. A topic change is in desperate need; he can’t take anymore heavy conversations right now, the tiredness is starting to seep into his bones.

 

“Well, I came here to try and tie up a few loose ends, but I think I really just came here to keep myself busy and put my rambling thoughts to rest,” Felicity reluctantly speaks, slightly exasperated with herself.

 

Tommy notices how her demeanor changes, and how it seems like she’s just trying to get away as well. From what, he’s not entirely sure of yet. As he observes Felicity, his eyes travel down to her hands where he catches her unconsciously rubbing her wrists. At a closer inspection, he can see raw rings of red wrapped around her wrists where her fingers are circling her right hand. Concern flowing through him, he reaches over and grabs her left hand. “What happened here?” Tommy voices quietly, as if afraid to speak any louder would scare her off. He can tell he’s startled her.

 

“Oh uh, nothing really. Well – this crazy ex-girlfriend of Oliver’s came into my office at work and forced me to hack into the FBI database, where she then tied me up on the floor and left…” she says in an equally quiet voice; she carefully extracts her hand from Tommy’s grasp to place it in her lap.

 

“Helena,” Tommy vehemently speaks; anger surging through him as The Huntress has not only hurt him, but the innocent woman sitting in front of him. And suddenly, he’s not just upset at Helena; he’s upset with Oliver for even potentially putting her in this position by letting her into this new world of his. His anger and frustration must have shown all over his face because before he knew it, Felicity was standing directly in front of him her hand on his injured wrist.

 

“Hey, stop it. Don’t blame Oliver. It’s my life. I made this choice to help him,” Felicity firmly states. She glances from his bandaged wrist to hers and Tommy can see a look of understanding cross her face. “Looks like we’ve both had a crappy day.”

 

 Without preamble, Tommy breaks out into a full out belly laugh. Bending slight at the waist, the rush of the day’s activities flooding into him fully, all he can do is laugh at the ludicrousness that is his life. Felicity seems to catch his train of thought because all of a sudden she’s joining him in his laughter fest. After several minutes, silence overtakes the Foundry again, and they both realize they’ve been staring at each other for far too long that should be comfortable for two people who have just met. But in the same instance, Tommy feels like he’s connected with the one person who may be able to understand some semblance of what _he’s_ going through on his own. Before things start to become awkward, Tommy steps back and smiles genuinely at Felicity. “Well, Felicity Smoak, you have turned out to be pleasantly unexpected in my life tonight. Thank you for that,” Tommy playfully jests to her; he turns to head towards the stairwell when Felicity’s voice stops him.

 

“Hey Mr. M-Tommy, you’re welcome,” Felicity stumbles over her words as she shuffles a few steps away from her desk.

 

She’s shifting from left to right and her hands are rubbing her wrists again in nervousness. He can tell she’s debating something in her head, but before he can ask, she turns back to the desk to grab her phone and is walking to him with a confidence and determination that wasn’t there a second ago.

 

“If- if you ever need to talk with someone, about Oliver, or about your day, you can talk to me,” she says to Tommy, looking at him with an openness and honesty that makes his chest ache.

 

He sees her looking down at her phone typing something rapidly before glancing back up at him a short grin crossing her face. He hears his phone chime and vibrate in his back pocket, not wanting to break the moment between them; he simply nods politely at her and heads up the stairs and out into the club. After locking up and exiting Verdant, Tommy heads towards his car when he hears his phone chime again alerting him he has a new text message. _Laurel._ He hopes wistfully, but unlikely as she’s still upset with him. Unlocking his car, he gets in and closes the door. Reaching behind him, Tommy pulls out his phone to see two messages from an unknown number.

 

“For when you need an ear to lean on…..or if you are ever in need of computer support, just not relationship advice, I’m horrible at that, don’t recommend asking me….”

 

“If you need a friend. I’m here. – Felicity Smoak”

 

Smirking to himself in his car, Tommy shakes his head with absurdity. _Of course_ she would babble even in her text messages. Seemingly enough, he’s not even surprised or mad that she managed to find his private cell phone number. _Remarkable._ Without thought or hesitation, Tommy responds to Felicity’s text. Once his phone alerts him that his message has been sent; he tosses his phone into the passenger seat and starts the engine. As Tommy is pulling out of Verdant, he’s grinning the entire time.

 

“Felicity Smoak, I believe this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

 

**OOOOO**

 


	3. Learning To Trust

**OOOOO**

 

“Got your text,” Felicity said, strolling up behind Tommy. Seeing him turn and smile at her in greeting she continued, “I must admit, when you said you needed to talk; this wasn’t exactly the type of place I was thinking of.” Scrunching up her nose in confusion, she stops beside him to take in the modest building in front of them.

 

“Come on Smoak, let me show you something,” Tommy teasingly spouted, already walking towards the entrance of the building backwards, hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants while inclining his head for her to follow him.

 

As Felicity walked briskly to catch up to Tommy, she could only wonder why Tommy had brought her to the Starling City Aquarium. She could name five or six places off the top of her head that would be considered natural places to meet up. From Big Belly to Starbucks, even Verdant, but here? This was definitely different. Not that she knew what was considered normal in Tommy Merlyn standards. She and Tommy hadn’t exactly spent a lot of time together since meeting; to be fair, they’ve only had a handful of conversations personally since they met in Verdant’s basement. They’ve only tentatively delved into this odd, banter-filled friendship outside of their respective time from the club. One maintaining the public’s checks and balances of the everyday nightlife, and the other running a crime-fighting organization by night and IT guru by day. Observing that Tommy is patiently holding the door open for her in mild amusement, Felicity can tell he’s noticed her internal quandary. Shaking herself out of her reverie of thoughts, she smirks politely at him as she crosses the threshold of the Aquarium entrance, “Such a gentleman. You are just full of surprises today, aren’t you?”

 

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” he naturally flirts back, leaning down to whisper in her ear. Snagging Felicity’s hand, Tommy starts to pull her into a more remote section of the Aquarium.

 

After walking down a few hallways, and through a couple of rooms, they reach a small alcove entrance that’s blocked off with an ‘Under Construction’ sign. Tommy makes a move with his right hand to raise the rope, so they can go under it, but Felicity stops him.

 

“Tommy, what are you doing?” Felicity hisses at him, taking her hand and pulling it out of his grasp. “It’s blocked off, we have no idea what they’re doing in their or if it’s safe – not to mention we will most likely be caught and kicked out, which may be normal for you under certain circumstances…..” She trails off as Tommy leans over to put an index finger over her lips, making a ‘shushing’ noise in the process.

 

“Easy Felicity. It’s okay, I promise. You just have to trust me,” Tommy calmly says. Holding out his hand for her to take, a very serious expression creeps over his features as most of the amusement has left his face.

 

Wordlessly, she shifts her purse onto her other shoulder and places her hand in his. Tommy’s never given her a reason not to trust him, and even with their new found friendship she can feel that this is something important to him, whatever it is that he needs to speak with her about. In for a penny, in for a pound as they say. They duck under the rope and round the corner that leads them into a breathtaking view. Cavern walls are filled with dim lighting; but in the main portion on the alcove most of the illumination in the room comes from the glass walls that reach up above them creating their ceiling, the teal blue water floods the area with beautiful reflections and lighting. In the center of the room there is one lone wooden bench, worn and weathered, but somehow fits among the beauty of the room. Circling the small, yet spacious area, Felicity sits down on the bench awed by the simplicity and peace of the room. Shifting to look at Tommy, she can see through the low lighting how he’s drawn in to himself, staring absently at the schools of fish floating all around them.

 

“Tommy, what is this place to you?” Felicity hesitantly asks; she stands up from the bench to walk over to him and places a comforting hand on his arm.

 

For several moments, there’s nothing but silence and the flickering reflections of the water bouncing off of the walls of the room. When Tommy doesn’t respond, seemingly lost in thought and staring straight ahead, Felicity starts to become concerned and worried. She gently squeezes his arm to let him know that she’s here for him. That in one small gesture she meant what she told him when they first met – that she would be here for him, if he needed to talk. Suddenly, Felicity feels him sigh and slacken his body.

 

“My mother used to bring me here, before she…,” Tommy whispers to her, emotion clogging up his voice. Inside the small cavern, the whisper sounds like a strike of lightning hitting, bouncing off the walls surrounding them. Turning his head to Felicity, he smiles tightly at her, “This place is where I can step away from the world a bit. I don’t have to be Tommy Merlyn public figure, the golden boy, the dutiful boyfriend, best friend to a vigilante, here I can just come and be – “

 

“Yourself,” she speaks kindly to him. _Knowingly_. “This is your safe haven, a little piece of the world where no one can get to you.”

 

“Yeah,” he breathes, a look of relief flooding the features of his face.

 

“It’s beautiful here Tommy. I may never have met her, but this; this makes perfect sense to me. A reflection of her soul in the breathtaking space, of cherished memories. I can see why you come here,” Felicity sincerely says, letting go of his arm; she crosses her arms in front of her taking in the serenity of the closed off aquarium.  Walking over to a section of the glass where more fish have gathered, she contemplates the enormity of what Tommy has just shared with her. “So, did you and Oliver ever –“

 

“No,” Tommy quickly shutting down her question. He walks over to her and leans against the glass where she’s standing, raising his eyebrows at her.

 

“You never brought…what about Laurel?” Felicity jumps back in after being cut off.

 

“No Felicity. Laurel hasn’t been here either,” he states; hand coming up to rub the back of his neck.

 

“Has…anyone?” Felicity tentatively questions. Her eyes are growing wide now at the potential implication of his answer, nervousness creeping into her system and anxiety of just how much Tommy Merlyn is willing to trust her in such a small period of time.

 

“Just you,” Tommy admits.

 

“Just me,” she says; disbelief coloring her voice. “But, of all the people to share this part of you with, why me?”

 

The silence between them is deafening. Staring at each other in trepidation, anxiety, confusion and something else indefinable, Tommy is the first to break eye contact between them.

 

“I don’t know,” Tommy says, swallowing thickly, you can hear the question in his own answer, slight creases forming around his eyes as he turns to answer her.

 

Felicity is more than slightly awed by Tommy Merlyn right now. He is nothing like she ever expected him to be, and yet at the same time; she’s seeing what’s only reflected back in her own soul. Perhaps that is the real answer to their friendship. They don’t have to vocally acknowledge what they both see in each other that connects them together. They’ve figured out what makes the other tick without looking at the schematics. They just know. Making an unconscious move towards him, she stops short when the shrill of a cell phone echoes through the alcove. Surprised at the unexpected noise, Felicity straights up to dig through her bag for her phone, where she is promptly planning on murdering whoever is on the other end. “Sorry,” she says exasperated at Tommy, while continuing to rifle through her belongings. Triumphantly she holds up her hand with her phone in the other, “Ha!” Looking to see who the caller is, her good mood leaves her as quickly as it came.

 

“It’s Oliver isn’t it?” Tommy heaves a long drawn out sigh, walking over the bench he sits down with his shoulders slumped slightly, propping his chin on his hands. “You need to take that, I get it,” he says, a hint of sadness crawling into the inflection of his words.

 

Staring at her phone, and then back at Tommy, Felicity doesn’t even hesitate as she takes her phone and flips the sound to vibrate before throwing her phone back in her purse and strides over to Tommy to join him on the bench.

 

“Wait. Did you just ignore Oliver?” Tommy turns his upper torso towards Felicity, a huff of laughter in disbelief expelling from his chest.

 

“Yes. That was Oliver, and yes I did ignore him. Why are you surprised?” Felicity laughs out, tilting her head to the side in question.

 

Well. Because -,” Tommy sputters out. Because _no one_ ever ignores Oliver Queen. They just don’t. It’s universally known, when Oliver Queen calls, everyone drops everything. Hell, he’s been guilty of it himself. Best friend in life and all that. “If he’s calling you, it’s probably important and related to, what you all do,” he resigns himself in saying, waving his hands around in random gesture.

 

“Contrary to popular belief, I don’t enjoy him monopolizing _all_ of my time. I’m not answering him, because he knows better. I already had this conversation with him earlier that I would be busy this afternoon because I was spending it with a friend. A friend who needs me. He is aware, and I guarantee you, it’s nothing that can’t wait until later. He can wait,” Felicity speaks sincerely, passionately to him. She reaches up to softly touch Tommy’s shoulder, trying to convey the importance of what’s she’s trying to get across to him. “He can wait.”

 

Felicity’s heart breaks just a bit as she witnesses just how much her words have affected him. Tommy’s face is littered with emotion, jaw slackened; and she can swear she can see the beginnings of tears shining in his eyes, but before she can respond to his silent outpour of emotion, Felicity suddenly finds herself with an armful of Tommy Merlyn.

 

After her initial surprise of being drawn into this _very_ unplanned removal of personal space, Felicity barely hesitates as she gives back as much as she can to him. Burying her head in his chest as Tommy lays his cheek on top of her head, they just hold each other. After several long minutes, Felicity feels Tommy gently release her, brushing his nose against the top of her head, before clearing his throat and sitting back minutely.

 

“Felicity Smoak. Thank you,” Tommy ducks his head down to look Felicity directly in the eye, keeping his hands on her upper arms as he gently speaks to her.  

 

“So. Now that we’ve hit our emotional quota of the day, what it is that you needed to talk with me about Merlyn?” Felicity smiles brightly at him, relaxing as she discovers they’ve crossed another milestone in their friendship, one that she is certainly not unhappy about. She’s glad that’s she’s able to provide this little piece of reassurance to him, because he deserves it, and she’ll be damned if he ever thinks otherwise again.

 

“Later. I have plans for you Smoak. Big plans,” Tommy says, standing up with a bright smile stretching across his face. “Now what do you say I show you around the rest of this place?” A cocky grin in place now as he does a light-hearted spin, while holding his arms out before clapping his hands together.

 

“I’m not sure I could say no if I wanted to,” Felicity playfully banters back in a slightly exasperated manner. Standing up, she and Tommy make their way out, laughter echoing behind them.

 

**OOOOO**

Seeing the light return to Tommy’s eyes, made her chest constrict in ways she never knew could occur. Listening to Tommy and watching the expressions on his face as they walked through the aquarium, sharing stories of when he was little. How he nearly gave his mother a heart attack as he snuck away to try and play into the shark tank.

 

But the best moment in her opinion, was at the end of their afternoon as they said their goodbyes, Felicity saw the one thing she had always wanted to see from Tommy shine through his eyes.

 

Hope.


End file.
